A full salary list of what UFC fighters earned in 2020 reveals that Khabib Nurmagomedov was MMA's highest-paid star.
'The Eagle's total purse of over $6 million for his UFC 254 submission victory over Justin Gaethje meant the Russian lightweight earned more than twice as much as any other fighter in the sport last year.
Second on the list, shared by GiveMeSport, was Khabib's old rival Conor McGregor. 'The Notorious' earned a salary of just over $3 million for making short work of Donald Cerrone in January.
However it's worth noting that the original source, MMABreakdown, caveat that their payout list includes only "the reported salaries plus Fight of the Night & Performance of the Night bonuses that have been made public, along with Reebok payouts (now called fight week incentive pay)."
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Some top fighters may get additional bonuses paid out to them that aren't reported (plus a cut of the pay-per-view buys for events that they headline). So the actual figure, particularly for someone like McGregor, could be higher than his Nevada State Athletic Commission released salary.
Overall, four UFC fighters made over $1 million just via their salaries alone however. Nurmagomedov, McGregor, Junior dos Santos (who fought - and lost - three times in 2020) plus Israel Adesanya (who fought twice).
The average UFC fighter made $147,965 in 2020 - which is actually an increase on the 2019 average of $146,673. Not bad considering the global pandemic put the brakes on numerous fights throughout the year.
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The UFC's 25 top-earning fighters for the last calendar year are listed below.
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov ($6,090,000)
2. Conor McGregor ($3,060,000)
3. Junior dos Santos ($1,560,000)
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4. Israel Adesanya ($1,230,000)
5. Justin Gaethje ($920,000)
6. Jose Aldo ($900,000)
7. Deiveson Figueiredo ($875,000)
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8. Anthony Pettis ($855,000)
9. Alistair Overeem ($830,000)
10. Stipe Miocic ($790,000)
11. Dominick Reyes ($760,000)
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12. Robert Whittaker ($745,000)
13. Marcin Tybura ($701,000)
14. Andrei Arlovski ($695,000)
15. Tony Ferguson ($695,000)
16. Donald Cerrone ($660,000)
17. Kamaru Usman ($640,000)
18. Anderson Silva ($620,000)
18. Derrick Lewis ($620,000)
20. Anthony Smith ($615,000)
21. Jan Blachowicz ($590,000)
22. Jim Miller ($583,000)
23. Charles Oliveira ($557,200)
24. Kevin Holland ($553,000)
25. Glover Teixeira ($550,000)
All imagery: PA Images
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor Mcgregor, UFC News, MMA News, Mixed Martial Arts, Fight News, UFC, MMA, Israel Adesanya